Transpac 2005 Press Release 7

LONG BEACH, Calif.---A few hours before 20 Division III and IV boats started the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii Friday, Grant Baldwin forewarned them from the communications vessel Alaska Eagle that "they're going to have to put on their track shoes to catch the Cal 40s, who are rocketing."

The 32 boats remaining from the 33 that started Monday---there has been one dropout---have found little sun but continued to enjoy minimal seas and northerly winds of 18-20 knots---about 16 knots more than Friday's starters found off the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

With light wind blowing straight down the line, everyone started on port tack.

The sun scattered a gloomy marine layer shortly before the 1 p.m. start, but then the wind dropped from 5 to 2 knots and swung so far left to due east that it was impossible to cross the line on a normal starboard tack.

Two boats were quick to pick up on the fluky conditions: Craig Reynolds' Nelson/Marek 55, Bolt, from Newport Beach, Calif., and Jamie and Jenny Neill's Super 30, The Cone of Silence, from Sydney, Australia. Bolt set an overlapping "code zero" headsail---a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker---and proceeded to walk away from the fleet, while The Cone of Silence, the smallest boat in the race, popped a blue asymmetrical spinnaker on its bowsprit and moved out 200 yards to leeward.

The Cone of Silence got a jump on bigger boats by setting its chute.

One by one, other boats took the cue, but Bolt and Cone already had the advantage as they sailed toward the west end of Santa Catalina Island 26 miles offshore---the only mark of the 2,225-nautical mile course.

Watching developments with interest from off the pin end of the starting line was Genuine Risk, at 90 feet the biggest boat in the race. Randall Pittman's crew stopped by while out for a final tune-up sail before they go off Sunday among 20 Division I and II boats, the last of 75 entries.

Before leaving Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach for the starting area, one boat, Gary Fanger's 1D35, Sensation, from San Francisco, reported a skipper change. Fanger had to step off a few days earlier because of pressing business concerns and turned command over to watch captain Rodney Hagebols.

Class leaders at sea Friday remained Steve Brown's Express 37, Brown Sugar, from Santa Ana, Calif. in Division V; Sally Honey's Illusion, from Palo Alto, Calif. in Cal 40s; Cecil Rossi's 58-foot yawl Odyssey, Newport Beach, in Aloha A, and Larry Hillman's Swan 48, So Far, Chicago, in Aloha B. Each set its class pace in distance sailed as well as projected corrected handicap time.

Bolt took an early lead off the line with a code zero headsail.

Odyssey, sailing its fourth Transpac over 66 years, was nearest the finish with 1,680 miles to go but now will be looking aft for Aloha A rival Shanakee II, James Warmington's bigger and faster Pedrick 74 that started Friday and spots Odyssey nearly two days for the course in handicap time, besides four days in real time.

David Kory's MacGregor 65, Barking Spider 3, from Concord, Calif., owes each of Friday's starters time. It's a step up in class for Kory, who won Aloha B in 2003 with a Catalina 38.

"It's going to be a challenge for us," Kory said. "We don't have the experience or the sophisticated racing program that some of the guys have. We'll just put a finger in the air and decide where to go."

Earlier in the week while rivals were preparing to race, Kory offered Barking Spider 3 as a spectator boat for Monday's start, and 14 friends and family members of the early fleets took advantage.

"We've had a great time," Kory said. "We're in this to have fun."

Also before the start, Jamie Neill reported that on The Cone of Silence's first tune-up sail Tuesday since shipping the 30-footer to California the crew discovered a hairline crack in the headsail track. With the assistance of the local North Sails team, the track was replaced two days before the start.

The Sail-World USA Web site will be providing live tracking of the little Australian boat, a first for Transpac.

Daily Standings for July 15, 2005.

Official entries
(With total handicap time allowances in hours:minutes:seconds)

Division I (starts July 17)

Morning Glory (R/P maxZ86), Hasso Plattner, Kiel, Germany (0:00:00)
Pyewacket (R/P maxZ86), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles. (0:00:00)
Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), Randall Pittman, La Jolla, Calif. (0.00:23)
Windquest (R/P maxZ86), Dick & Doug DeVos, Holland, Mich. (6:51:07)
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach. (9:44:58)
Beecom (Reichel/Pugh 72), Isao Mita, Yokohama, Japan (30:16:07)
Scout Spirit (R/P 77), Bill Turpin, Newport Beach, Calif. (32:21:35)

Division II (Starts July 17)

Renegade (Andrews 70), Dan Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C. (40:03:46)
Merlin (Lee 68), Patricia Steele, Maui, H.I. (41:54:03)
Medicine Man (Andrews 61), Bob Lane, Long Beach. (45:59:58)
Pegasus 52 (Transpac 52), Philippe Kahn, Honolulu. (51:49:29)
Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Pompano Beach, Fla. (52:18:39)
Skylark (S/C 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach. (52:18:53)
Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco. (55:04:54)
Braveheart (Transpac 52), Charles Burnet, Seattle. (55:23:53)
Mongoose (Santa Cruz 70), Bradley Thorson, Bellevue, Wash. (57:38:37)
Coruba (N/M 68), Rob and Suzanne Fleming, Seattle. (57:52:37)
Bengal 2 (Ohashi 52), Yoshihiko Murase, Nagoya, Japan (64:07:15)
Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif. (65:20:10)
Ragtime (Spencer 66), Peterson/Richards/Welsh, Honolulu. (69:08:37)

Division III (Starts July 15)

Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (74:38:45)
Stealth Chicken (Perry 56), Timothy Beatty, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (80:52:12)
The Cone of Silence (Super 30), Jamie and Jenny Neill, Sydney, Australia. (83:69:39)
Cipango (Andrews 56), Bob & Rob Barton, San Francisco. (84:08:21)
DH-Serena (T1150), David Kuettel, Bel Marin, Calif. (84:32:16)
Jeito (J/145), Francisco Guzman, Acapulco, Mexico. (86:10:42)
Dasher (S/C 50), Roger Groh, Sausalito, Calif. (89:38:24)
Reinrag2 (J/125), Tom Garnier, Portland, Ore. (90:15:09)
Bolt (Nelson/Marek 55), Craig Reynolds, Newport Beach, Calif. (90:16:35)
Artemis (Andrews 53), Louis Bianco, Seattle. (90:58:29)
Innocent Merriment (J/160), Myron Lyon, San Diego. (91:10:54)
Blue (J/160), Ken and /Cheryl Sears, Nashville, Tenn. (93:03:17)
Chasch Mer (S/C 50), Gib Black, Honolulu. (95:31:20)

Division IV (Starts July 15)

DH-Two Guys On the Edge (1D35), Dan Doyle, Kailua, H.I. (114:54:33)
Sensation (1D35), Gary Fanger, San Francisco. (115:11:28)
Tabasco (1D35), Alamitos Bay Syndicate, Long Beach. (115:31:05)
Kahoots (Andrews 43), Kerry Deaver/Bob Williamson, Newport Beach. (119:24:28)
Pursuit (Custom 48), Norman and Rosemary Dawley, Solomons, Md. (121:24:04)
Wild Impulse (J/120), Larry Barels, Santa Barbara, Calif. (122:19:04)
Uproarious (Olson 40), Robert Bussard, San Diego. (123:41:45)

Division V (Starts July 11)

Super Gnat (Beneteau First 40.7), Cliff Thompson, San Diego (132:16:04)
Iataia (Beneteau First 40.7), Marcos Rodriguez, Acapulco, Mexico. (133:59:14)
Showdown (IMX 38), Pete Meade/Mike Luna/ Paul McDonald, Irvine, Calif. (136:02:44)
B'Quest (Tripp 40), Challenged America, San Diego. (136:41:18)
Brown Sugar (Express 37), Steve Brown, Santa Ana, Calif. (141:30:59)
DH-Soap Opera (Hobie 33), Scott Self/Nigel Brown, Rockwall, Tex. (141:56:43)
DH-Jacaré (J/35), Jeff Young/Rich Blackman, San Diego. (148:46:04)
DH-Diablo (J/35), Reed Barnard, Anacortes, Wash. (150:24:54)

Cal 40 (Starts July 11)

California Girl (Cal 40), Don and Betty Lessley, Richmond, Calif. (163:20:29)
Radiant (Cal 40), Fin Beven, Pasadena, Calif. (164:09:20)
Callisto (Cal 40), Jim Eddy, Glendale, Calif. (164:44:47)
Far Far (Cal 40), Don Grind, Naples, Fla. (164:53:27)
Dancing Bear (Cal 40), Mark Schrader, Sitka, Alaska. (165:01:55)
Spectre (Cal 40), Lee Rogge, Seattle. (165:13:28)
Ralphie (Cal 40), Davis Pillsbury, Woody Creek, Colo. (165:37:14)
Azure (Cal 40), Rodney Pimentel, Alameda, Calif. (165:50:20)
Psyche (Cal 40), Steve Calhoun, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (166:05:17)
Shaman (Cal 40), Steve Waterloo, Alameda, Calif. (166:13:50)
Willow Wind (Cal 40), Wendy Siegal, Sunset Beach, Calif. (166:28:31)
Illusion (Cal 40), Sally Honey, Palo Alto, Calif. (167:07:37)
Seafire (Cal 40), John Harrison, Honolulu. (168:13:35)
Bubala (Cal 40), Lloyd Sellinger, Newport Beach. (168:51:37)

Aloha A (Starts July 11)

*Shanakee II (Pedrick 74), James Warmington, Costa Mesa, Calif. (83:26:25)
Enchilado (Jeanneau 54), Cesar de Saracho, Mazatlan, Mexico. (112:22:50)
Madrina (Cabo Rico 56), Dick Simon, Dana Point, Calif. (124:52:04)
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52), Ross Pearlman, Marina del Rey, Calif. (126:13:17)
Incredible (Swan 53), Rick Gorman, Los Alamitos, Calif. (126:14:24)
Odyssey (58' yawl), Audrey Steele Burnand, Newport Beach. (128:53:47)
Plan B (Peterson 48), David Johnson, Long Beach. (129:07:19)
DH-Charmed Life (Catalina 470), Patricia Garfield, San Francisco. (131:54:20)

Aloha B (Starts July 11)

Azure (Swan 441), Samuel Beckey, San Diego. (138:17:59)
DH-Camille (Stewart 42), James Read, San Francisco. (141:52:48)
So Far (Swan 48), Larry Hillman, Chicago. (147:28:54)
Wind Dancer (Catalina 42), Paul Edwards, Ventura, Calif. (149:50:14)
Pipe Dream (CF 37), John Davis, Long Beach. (164:43:08)

DH---Doublehanded.

*---Starts July 15.


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